In audio and video tape cassette processing and packaging, the cassettes coming from a given work station must be collected in an orderly manner in trays so that the cassettes can be easily carried to the next work station where they can be picked up again and submitted to further processing.
For example, cassette collection into trays is usually carried out immediately after the assembly of the cassettes shells from their multitude of different parts in order to make it easier to transfer them to the work station where the tape will be wound into the cassettes. Similarly, the cassettes are collected in trays after the magnetic tape winding steps, in order to transfer them to the stations where boxing, packaging and labelling operations are carried out.
Presently, all operations necessary for storing cassettes in trays are conducted in a completely manual manner. Typically, cassettes coming from a given work station are output onto a belt conveyor. At the end of the conveyor an operator picks them up, by hand, and puts them into the trays. This operation involves significant labor expense, at least in part because the speed of automatic machines presently employed in cassette packaging operations requires the attention of more than one operator.
Thus, in order to meet the need for ever increasing productivity, with a reduction in the costs of manufacturing, automation of the tray packing operation is highly desirable.